BNP Paribas files its prospectus for the public offer for BNL today

BNP Paribas has filed its prospectus for the public offer for the capital of BNL today, as follows:

mandatory with regard to common stock

voluntary with regard to savings stock.

BNP Paribas currently owns 45.47% of BNL's common stock and will increase its stake to 50.4% in the coming days, once all the transactions entered into with Unipol and its partners on February 2 have been completed.

The BNP Paribas mandatory bid pertains to all remaining shares of common stock. It is made at a price of 2.925 euros per share, including the dividend. As an incentive for shareholders and in order to treat all of them equally, BNP Paribas is offering everyone the price paid to Unipol and its partners, instead of the legal minimum of 2.817 euros.

Since the dividend is included in the price offered by BNP Paribas, BNP Paribas will vote against the distribution of that dividend at the next shareholders' meeting. The proposed amount of the dividend was 0.06 euro. If it had been paid out, it would have been deducted from the price paid as part of the bid. This approach allows BNP Paribas to provide the benefit of an amount equal to the dividend to all shareholders who tender their shares, while maintaining the maximum amount of resources within BNL for its future growth.

In addition to its mandatory bid, BNP Paribas is launching a voluntary bid for all of BNL's “shares of savings stock,” which are special-status, non-voting shares. The offered price is also 2.925 euros per share of savings stock.